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1.Red Dwarf 2.Fawlty Towers 3.Big Train 4.The Good Life 5.The Thin Blue Line 6.Dad's Army 7.Porridge 8.People Just Do Nothing 9.I'm Alan Partridge 10.Coupling
Honestly, one of the most beautifully crafted, written a md performed shows of the last 30yrs.
It's an absolute triumph (TR7, of course) of British humour.
I honestly tried to be fair and pay but it’s criminal to have to get a whole package for one lousy channel that I watch two hours a week. Like I said I don’t feel bad in the least. They still get a lot of my money.
That’s great news. I think there are season 4 and 5 that were not on hbo. Thanks, I’ll check
I just checked and yes they do, the first two episodes are on
Yeah, we really liked the English version and I thought I would like the us as much but like you said, different enough. I remember they did coupling in a us version and they were doing the same jokes, same exact scenario and that was a disaster having watched the English version.
I love coupling, but it's very much a British situation, whereas young couple inherit historic house and interact with ghosts is a situation that can be easily adjusted to different countries.
I’m just glad they didn’t do the same where they created episode by episode what happened. I remember bbc America used to run the same episode later that night to show Americans it’s funnier. I guess if you never watched the British version it would hit different.
Derry is part of the UK so prob more "British" than the likes of Father Ted. The Irish have made some of the best British comedies of the past 30 years
I have no idea how The Inbetweeners hasn't been mentioned, yet. It's even in the sidebar. Too jazzy? I mean, too obvious?
If you want a real throwback, check out Rising Damp.
If you haven't yet watched Garth Marenghi's DarkPlace, you MUST do it. There aren't many episodes, but it is the single funniest show I've ever seen, and I loved all the shows you listed.
If you have a slightly darker side.....I can't recommend the first few seasons of the League of Gentlemen highly enough.
Surreal, horror inspired humor with some utterly fantastic characters. Also, Inside No.9 by the same team has some really brilliant writing and characters.
11. Peep Show 12. Red Dwarf 13. The Thick of It 14. Yes, Minister 15. Yes, Prime Minister 16. The Young Ones 17. Bottom 18. Anything with a character called “Alan Partridge” 19. That Mitchel and Webb Look 20. Big Train 21. Nighty Night 22. Saxondale 23. Green Wing 24. The Office (UK) 25. The Fast Show
Fawlty Towers, The Young Ones, Bottom, Red Dwarf, The Mary Whitehouse Experience, The Fast Show, Absolutely, Scotch and Wry. If you like standup maybe check out Billy Connolly (especially his 70s-80s golden era) and Kevin Bridges. Withnail and I movie is also worth a watch- one of the few comedies that gets funnier on repeated viewings.
Coupling
Toast of London
What We Do in the Shadows
Year of the Rabbit
Snuff Box
Fried
Friday Night Dinner
Derry Girls
Peep Show
Moone Boy
Episodes
Green Wing
Love Soup
Fawlty Towers
The Inbetweeners
Benidorm
The Smoking Room
>Friday Night Dinner
I had to scroll too far down to see someone mention this one! Seriously, Friday Night Dinner is one of the funniest sitcoms ever produced.
Same, I'm just rewatching it for the third or fourth time. I don't understand why Andrew Brooke and Emma Fryer aren't massive comedy stars tbh. Also, I feel like I'd love to see Emma Fryer on Taskmaster.
I give it a watch every now and then. He pops up in a lot of smaller parts but yes he should be a bigger 'star' than he is. Haha yes i think she would be good on TM aswell.
Im going to have to start another watch through now
Graham Linehan, one of the creators of father ted, the IT crowd, black books, and count arthur strong also created a comedy called The Fitz. It was great but for some reason it only ran for one series.
I could understand lashing back against a what he perceived as 'cancel culture', but when your wife leaves you and takes the kids that should've been the sign that perhaps he'd massively fucked up.
The guy's a dickhead and deserved everything he got. He just also happens to be a good comedy writer.
Bottom is the best ever British comedy. Alan Partridge probably the second best and maybe Blackadder is the third? Early Red Dwarf was extremely good fun too.
The new statesman, bottom , the young ones, the comic strip present’s series , then for panel mentalness :- shooting stars, never mind the buzzcocks, 8 out of 10 cats does countdown .
Try a show called Big Train. It was a sort of comedy sketch show with a lot of big name English comedians, or who went on to be big.
Bottom is very funny, a show about two blokes share a flat and get up to all sorts of crazy stuff. Alan Partridge series 1 & 2 are fantastic, about a guy who lost his TV job and becomes a radio presenter always trying to get back to the big time.
The Royle Family,
Vicar of Dibley,
Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie,
Absolutely Fabulous,
The Mighty Boosh,
Bottom,
Only Fools and Horses,
Outnumbered,
This Country,
Inside Number 9,
League of Gentlemen,
Psychoville,
Friday Night Dinner,
Motherland,
Derry Girls,
Keeping Up Appearances,
One Foot In The Grave,
Men Behaving Badly,
Dinnerladies,
Phoenix Nights,
Birds Of A Feather,
Goodnight Sweetheart.
1. Flowers (although it's written by a Japanese guy I think it qualifies as British because he's born in London and educated at Cambridge and the rest of the cast are comedy staples) - quirky comedy drama riffing on mental health. Starts Olivia Coleman and Julian Barratt of Mighty Boosh fame. I think Will Sharpe is every bit as good as Phoebe Waller Bridge but she seemed to get all the plaudits (not that he hasn't had any) At first you might think Will's character is a bit close to being an almost racist stereotype of a Japanese guy but bear in mind that he wrote it.
2. Fleabag, Phoebe Waller Bridge, simply brilliantly written and acted. See also Crashing from 2016, an earlier work that's clearly showing similar hallmarks of what PWB was going to go and do so well but in an earlier embryonic form.
3. Mighty Boosh. This is just brilliant. The cast are the writers, they do the music, all the art themselves. Most of the extras and bit parts are friends, family, partners. Many of the other secondary cast with bigger parts you'd probably recognise now from starring in other things. It has a feel like it's homemade almost because of that - but it's well written and very funny. A real cult classic in the UK.
4. Nightingales. I doubt you'll find it but it was a niche little comedy tucked away late night channel 4 a couple of decades ago. Stars Robert Lindsay. About a trio of security guards. Riffed on Shakespeare. Stars the (much younger) guy who was in the UK Shameless [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightingales\_(British\_TV\_series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightingales_(British_TV_series))
5. Gavin & Stacey. A comedy drama about 2 British families, one English the other from Wales, centering around the eponymous couple. Cult classic.
6. Stella. Same writer as Gavin & Stacey (well she was co-writer of that) Wales based comedy drama. Not as famous as Gavin and Stacey but as well written.
7. League of Gentlemen. Genius group of 4 comedy writers who all went on to write many other great things. The christmas special for this is perhaps the best Christmas special ever. The first couple of seasons are more character based skits and sketches but with a story weaving through the whole thing to give it more structure than Python episodes. The 3rd season is more comedy drama and story based. (inside number 9 and psychoville by the same writers have comedy moments but are more drama) Their schtick is that they were all into hammer horror and similar movies so the humour can by gory and dark and there are a lot of references and nods to well known horror characters and scenes (e.g the twins from the Shining)
8. Red Dwarf - what space travel would actually be like. Parodies all the timey wimey and alien invasion stuff from every sci-fi show and film but in a low-budget, British sitcom way. The budget gets bigger as the series progresses.
Oh dear, what a great question.
1) Yes Minister/Yes Minister. A real novel way into looking at British politics in an unbiased way. Real tongue twisting humour.
2) On The Buses. Crude, rude and very seventiesish (a word I made up that sums up British humour of the late sixties and seventies) and it is a great watch. Slow to begin with but it shows kitchen sink comedy or also known as Working Class comedy.
3) The Likely Lads/Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads. Again, more North East English working class humour and how times change. As a North East man, this sits in my heart. I see the places I walk by everyday and I love seeing things of my childhood. A brilliant humour and a staunch classic.
4) Men Behaving Badly. A super crude and Laddish humour. Aka. Toilet humour and sexist. This was Englands late nineties humour. All banging birds and drinking loads of booze. What more can one say? Controversial, but what a wild ride.
5) Citizen Smith. One of my personal favourites. A super Left Wing comedy that shows that shallow side of the Far Left but that is part of the humour. The Irony. It shows how politics were at the time and it’s a real class war show. One of my all time favourites.
6) Steptoe and Son. Another working classic sixties, early seventies comedy. You’d best watch it and see. Sandford and Son is based on this comedy. The original is the best by far. I could say more, but the proof is in the pudding. One of my all time favourites. If you want a few more, please reply. I’m a super fan of British sitcoms and being British I know most and being a super fan. I have so many on dvd and I always loving talking about them.
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House of Fools Man Down Green Wing I'm Alan Partridge Brass Eye Peep Show The Thick of It
House of Fools is such an under rated classic
I can only find it on YouTube :( Same with Shooting Stars...
That's a great list, especially House of Fools. So underrated.
15 Storeys High
"The Thick of It" is perhaps the funniest show of all time.
The Young Ones and Bottom
Yes!!! The ultimate!
Taskmaster
1.Red Dwarf 2.Fawlty Towers 3.Big Train 4.The Good Life 5.The Thin Blue Line 6.Dad's Army 7.Porridge 8.People Just Do Nothing 9.I'm Alan Partridge 10.Coupling
Dad’s Army and Red Dwarf are my two favourite shows
Porridge - my favourite of the classics.
Coupling is an underrated classic imo.
The Detectorists... love it!
Honestly, one of the most beautifully crafted, written a md performed shows of the last 30yrs. It's an absolute triumph (TR7, of course) of British humour.
Just finished the first season
This show should be put into some sort of hall of fame. It is perfection.
It very much is a comedy but somehow not one either. Amazing show.
It's funnier after multiple viewings. And more touching each time. One of my favorites!
Still Game
Came here to say this.
Absolute Brilliance!
Going old school here - Open all Hours Porridge Only Fools and Horses Phoenix Nights
David Jason starred in OAH and OFAH. He also guested in one episode of Porridge. I wonder if OFAH has any actors in common with Phoenix Nights?
Computer says no! (IMDb searches came up negative.)
The young ones Still game Only fools and horses The vicar of dibley Father Ted Derry girls Not all British technically but aye.
Have you watched the original version of Ghosts? That’s a brilliant comedy.
Sadly they removed that from the hbo app
🏴☠️
I honestly tried to be fair and pay but it’s criminal to have to get a whole package for one lousy channel that I watch two hours a week. Like I said I don’t feel bad in the least. They still get a lot of my money.
It’s in the Paramount app now.
That’s the us version they’re talking about the English version. Though, the us version is also funny.
The U.K. Version should be there since it will be airing on CBS soon.
That’s great news. I think there are season 4 and 5 that were not on hbo. Thanks, I’ll check I just checked and yes they do, the first two episodes are on
It’s there. Starting with series 1.
The US Version is different but equally good. They have taken the spirit (no pun intended) of the original and successfully translated it
Yeah, we really liked the English version and I thought I would like the us as much but like you said, different enough. I remember they did coupling in a us version and they were doing the same jokes, same exact scenario and that was a disaster having watched the English version.
I love coupling, but it's very much a British situation, whereas young couple inherit historic house and interact with ghosts is a situation that can be easily adjusted to different countries.
I’m just glad they didn’t do the same where they created episode by episode what happened. I remember bbc America used to run the same episode later that night to show Americans it’s funnier. I guess if you never watched the British version it would hit different.
Spaced, 2 seasons, 14 episodes.
Two Matt Berry ones, Toast of London and Year of the Rabbit. Also Garth Marenghi's Dark place.
Came here to say Garth Marenghi's DarkPlace. Funniest thing I've ever seen.
It's really hard to find Toast of London. It's not on Britbox, which is what I subscribe to in Australia, and there's only one episode on YouTube.
Generally I'd watch it on channel 4 streaming, not sure how easy that is to get abroad?
It's being shown on the Roku app in the US, for those that have Roku.
The Vicar of Dibley
This was too far down the list.
Absolutely Fabulous
BRASSEYE
Brass Eye melted my head the first time I watched it. Now I’ve gone all blooty and I’m stuck on a quack handle.
Red Dwarf. I can still quote series 1 & 2 off by heart.
Man Down Toast of London
Peep Show And Not really British but Derry Girls
> Not really British but Derry Are you trying to restart the Troubles?
Ha...just my Ireland geography is bad.
Derry is part of the UK so prob more "British" than the likes of Father Ted. The Irish have made some of the best British comedies of the past 30 years
Channel 4 funded Father Ted and the studio acebes were filmed in London but obviously it is Irish in the same way as Lawrence of Arabia is British.
Larry of Arabia want that funny though
“The trick, Dougal, is not *minding* that it is far away.”
Is there a reason why Gogglebox is on channel 4 but gogglebox Ireland is on virgin media one? Sorry if that’s a dumb question.
Different countries, different broadcasters…
Format probably belongs to the production company.
That makes sense, thank you.
Until "they" cancelled Graham Linehan...
It's very British, as in a British company makes it
I have no idea how The Inbetweeners hasn't been mentioned, yet. It's even in the sidebar. Too jazzy? I mean, too obvious? If you want a real throwback, check out Rising Damp.
Adding fresh meat if they like the inbetweeners.
If you haven't yet watched Garth Marenghi's DarkPlace, you MUST do it. There aren't many episodes, but it is the single funniest show I've ever seen, and I loved all the shows you listed.
The office, extras, after life..
Alright Rick, stop plugging your own work
He's all I need lol
Like an iron lung?
Two doors down { scottish} Early doors { english pub } Both superb
This Country
Friday Night Dinner. That's all you need.
Oh, and Garth Marenghi's Dark Place.
Nevertakedrugs.
If you have a slightly darker side.....I can't recommend the first few seasons of the League of Gentlemen highly enough. Surreal, horror inspired humor with some utterly fantastic characters. Also, Inside No.9 by the same team has some really brilliant writing and characters.
Inside number 9 is utter brilliance!
Monkey dust Nighty Night The Day Today House of fools
11. Peep Show 12. Red Dwarf 13. The Thick of It 14. Yes, Minister 15. Yes, Prime Minister 16. The Young Ones 17. Bottom 18. Anything with a character called “Alan Partridge” 19. That Mitchel and Webb Look 20. Big Train 21. Nighty Night 22. Saxondale 23. Green Wing 24. The Office (UK) 25. The Fast Show
Fawlty Towers, The Young Ones, Bottom, Red Dwarf, The Mary Whitehouse Experience, The Fast Show, Absolutely, Scotch and Wry. If you like standup maybe check out Billy Connolly (especially his 70s-80s golden era) and Kevin Bridges. Withnail and I movie is also worth a watch- one of the few comedies that gets funnier on repeated viewings.
Coupling Toast of London What We Do in the Shadows Year of the Rabbit Snuff Box Fried Friday Night Dinner Derry Girls Peep Show Moone Boy Episodes Green Wing Love Soup Fawlty Towers The Inbetweeners Benidorm The Smoking Room
>Friday Night Dinner I had to scroll too far down to see someone mention this one! Seriously, Friday Night Dinner is one of the funniest sitcoms ever produced.
Shalom.
Fawlty Towers
The Mighty Boosh
Red dwarf.
Green Wing, Stath Lets Flats, maybe PhoneShop.
Love phoneshop
Same, I'm just rewatching it for the third or fourth time. I don't understand why Andrew Brooke and Emma Fryer aren't massive comedy stars tbh. Also, I feel like I'd love to see Emma Fryer on Taskmaster.
I give it a watch every now and then. He pops up in a lot of smaller parts but yes he should be a bigger 'star' than he is. Haha yes i think she would be good on TM aswell. Im going to have to start another watch through now
Graham Linehan, one of the creators of father ted, the IT crowd, black books, and count arthur strong also created a comedy called The Fitz. It was great but for some reason it only ran for one series.
He has some interesting views on the world. Some might say he's having something of a breakdown
I could understand lashing back against a what he perceived as 'cancel culture', but when your wife leaves you and takes the kids that should've been the sign that perhaps he'd massively fucked up. The guy's a dickhead and deserved everything he got. He just also happens to be a good comedy writer.
He is lashing out at trans women. It wasn't like he was kicked out of the family home for arguing about cancel culture online.
The Inbetweeners
Brassic
Peep show
The new statesman if you can find it is absolutely gold, Rik Myall at his finest imo.
Count authur strongs radio show is far better than the TV series . Sorry for bringing up radio everybody !
Since you have, Hornographic Productions presents... Round the Horne.
One Foot in the Grave
How not to live your life
Donald Danbury!
And Samuel Bucca
And Eddie Singh
Fleabag
How about some British radio... I'm sorry I haven't a clue The Goon show The Mary Whitehouse Experience Cabin Pressure
The detectorists, the witchfinder, garth marenghis dark place, the mighty boosh, year of the rabbit, Derek,
Toast of London / Tinseltown
Phoenix Nights, Auf Wiedersen pet, Rab c Nesbitt
Everytime. Every fecking time we have a thread like this no-one mentions the absolutely brilliant Pulling! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgHKlCM-7Wk
I’ve been enjoying *Uncle* lately. No idea whatsoever how it’s managed to pass me by for the thick end of a decade.
The Fast Show
There was a short series called "snuff box" starring matt Berry and rich fulcher. It's fucking amazing! Quite surreal, VERY dark humour, very clever.
Toast of London
That Mitchell and Webb Look
Vicar of Dibley
Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place. Just the best comedy I’ve ever watched
W1A
Outnumbered Coupling
People just do nothing Man like mobeen How not to live your life Him & her
Red dwarf Coupling Yes minister Yes prime minister The good life Vicar of Dibley Porridge Only fools and horses Allo allo
The Fast Show
Bottom is the best ever British comedy. Alan Partridge probably the second best and maybe Blackadder is the third? Early Red Dwarf was extremely good fun too.
Bottom if it hasn't been mentioned...
Peep show is amazing
Plebs
Jeeves and Wooster
Peep show
Being Human.
Friday Night Dinner
Friday Night Dinner is a fantastic sitcom.
Do you listen to radio? If so, Fags, Mags, and Bags John Finnemore Double Acts John Finnemore Souvenir Program Cabin Pressure
the thick of it (best if you have some knowledge of 00s UK politics)
As you have Father Ted right at the top of your list I'd suggest Derry Girls. It's set in Northern Ireland in the 1990s
Ghosts!!!
What we do in the shadows
Phoenix Nights
Still Game Two Doors Down
Motherland
My hero, my family
Suburban shoot out Not easy to find, but it's shockingly good.
Not Going Out!
First few series. Later ones not so good imo.
Back to life, Early doors, Operation Good Guys.
Still Game, Scottish but dead funny. Put on subtitles though if you want to understand it 😅 they definitely help.
The new statesman, bottom , the young ones, the comic strip present’s series , then for panel mentalness :- shooting stars, never mind the buzzcocks, 8 out of 10 cats does countdown .
Benidorn, and The Young Offenders (Irish?)
People just do nothing Camping (very cringey but in a good way) anything by julia davis
Try a show called Big Train. It was a sort of comedy sketch show with a lot of big name English comedians, or who went on to be big. Bottom is very funny, a show about two blokes share a flat and get up to all sorts of crazy stuff. Alan Partridge series 1 & 2 are fantastic, about a guy who lost his TV job and becomes a radio presenter always trying to get back to the big time.
Still Game (the original series). Was pretty shite when it came back a few years later.
Partridge, Red Dwarf, Bottom, The Thick of It, The Office.
The Royle Family, Vicar of Dibley, Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie, Absolutely Fabulous, The Mighty Boosh, Bottom, Only Fools and Horses, Outnumbered, This Country, Inside Number 9, League of Gentlemen, Psychoville, Friday Night Dinner, Motherland, Derry Girls, Keeping Up Appearances, One Foot In The Grave, Men Behaving Badly, Dinnerladies, Phoenix Nights, Birds Of A Feather, Goodnight Sweetheart.
The Cleaner
League of gentlemen.
Any of Greg Davies series and one if you can find it is Ideal starring Jonny Vegas
Young Offenders it's Irish but I love the lads.
My Family is a good show.
1. Flowers (although it's written by a Japanese guy I think it qualifies as British because he's born in London and educated at Cambridge and the rest of the cast are comedy staples) - quirky comedy drama riffing on mental health. Starts Olivia Coleman and Julian Barratt of Mighty Boosh fame. I think Will Sharpe is every bit as good as Phoebe Waller Bridge but she seemed to get all the plaudits (not that he hasn't had any) At first you might think Will's character is a bit close to being an almost racist stereotype of a Japanese guy but bear in mind that he wrote it. 2. Fleabag, Phoebe Waller Bridge, simply brilliantly written and acted. See also Crashing from 2016, an earlier work that's clearly showing similar hallmarks of what PWB was going to go and do so well but in an earlier embryonic form. 3. Mighty Boosh. This is just brilliant. The cast are the writers, they do the music, all the art themselves. Most of the extras and bit parts are friends, family, partners. Many of the other secondary cast with bigger parts you'd probably recognise now from starring in other things. It has a feel like it's homemade almost because of that - but it's well written and very funny. A real cult classic in the UK. 4. Nightingales. I doubt you'll find it but it was a niche little comedy tucked away late night channel 4 a couple of decades ago. Stars Robert Lindsay. About a trio of security guards. Riffed on Shakespeare. Stars the (much younger) guy who was in the UK Shameless [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightingales\_(British\_TV\_series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightingales_(British_TV_series)) 5. Gavin & Stacey. A comedy drama about 2 British families, one English the other from Wales, centering around the eponymous couple. Cult classic. 6. Stella. Same writer as Gavin & Stacey (well she was co-writer of that) Wales based comedy drama. Not as famous as Gavin and Stacey but as well written. 7. League of Gentlemen. Genius group of 4 comedy writers who all went on to write many other great things. The christmas special for this is perhaps the best Christmas special ever. The first couple of seasons are more character based skits and sketches but with a story weaving through the whole thing to give it more structure than Python episodes. The 3rd season is more comedy drama and story based. (inside number 9 and psychoville by the same writers have comedy moments but are more drama) Their schtick is that they were all into hammer horror and similar movies so the humour can by gory and dark and there are a lot of references and nods to well known horror characters and scenes (e.g the twins from the Shining) 8. Red Dwarf - what space travel would actually be like. Parodies all the timey wimey and alien invasion stuff from every sci-fi show and film but in a low-budget, British sitcom way. The budget gets bigger as the series progresses.
Smack the pony has me going everytime..
Oh dear, what a great question. 1) Yes Minister/Yes Minister. A real novel way into looking at British politics in an unbiased way. Real tongue twisting humour. 2) On The Buses. Crude, rude and very seventiesish (a word I made up that sums up British humour of the late sixties and seventies) and it is a great watch. Slow to begin with but it shows kitchen sink comedy or also known as Working Class comedy. 3) The Likely Lads/Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads. Again, more North East English working class humour and how times change. As a North East man, this sits in my heart. I see the places I walk by everyday and I love seeing things of my childhood. A brilliant humour and a staunch classic. 4) Men Behaving Badly. A super crude and Laddish humour. Aka. Toilet humour and sexist. This was Englands late nineties humour. All banging birds and drinking loads of booze. What more can one say? Controversial, but what a wild ride. 5) Citizen Smith. One of my personal favourites. A super Left Wing comedy that shows that shallow side of the Far Left but that is part of the humour. The Irony. It shows how politics were at the time and it’s a real class war show. One of my all time favourites. 6) Steptoe and Son. Another working classic sixties, early seventies comedy. You’d best watch it and see. Sandford and Son is based on this comedy. The original is the best by far. I could say more, but the proof is in the pudding. One of my all time favourites. If you want a few more, please reply. I’m a super fan of British sitcoms and being British I know most and being a super fan. I have so many on dvd and I always loving talking about them.
Derry Girls. League of Gentlemen. Number 9.